A DUNFERMLINE author has released a new book for young adults about a paranormal adventure after being inspired by her own spooky tales as a child.

'PJ and The Paranormal Pursuers: The Mackenzie Poltergeist' is Jacqui Dempster's third book but her first writing for a younger audience.

The former solicitor, who used to run a theatre school for young performers in Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy, came up with the idea after taking some of the group on a ghost walk to Greyfriars Kirkyard after a performance at the Edinburgh Fringe.

There, she first encountered the story of the Mackenzie Poltergeist who became central to the plot of the book.

Jacqui, 58, told the Press: "My interest in the supernatural was sparked by stories from my grandfather who was reputedly psychic.

"Once, after visiting his mother in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, he was walking home and stopped for a moment on the mountain road to look at his watch, when his mother appeared to him to tell him she had passed away.

"When he arrived home, my grandmother was waiting to tell him the bad news that indeed, his mother had died.

"On another occasion, both my grandparents were awoken in the night to the sounds of scraping, machinery and metal clanging in their house, which as a miner, my grandfather identified as sounds of the pit.

"My grandfather said that there was the smell of death in the house, and he voiced his fear that something had happened. Sure enough, news followed that there had been an accident in the mine.

"I loved to read ghost stories as a youngster, terrifying myself so that I had to sleep with the lights on, and I hoped it was still an interest to youngsters these days.

"I still find the subject fascinating and although I have never seen a ghost myself, I have had the feeling that people (and animals) who have passed on stay around to look after us and say hello sometimes.

"Ultimately, people are fascinated and comforted by the possibility of an afterlife, given that most of us find the inevitability of death, and our existence ending, inconceivable."

'PJ and The Paranormal Pursuers' follows the main character, PJ, who moved to Edinburgh after his mother's death, and meets a neighbour who tells him his loved one is still with him. It sparks a series of strange happenings and PJ makes friends with a group who try to make sense of the paranormal after encountering the Mackenzie Poltergeist.

Jacqui explained: "Poltergeists are often thought to be troubled spirits and they like to cause mischief and mayhem.

"Sir George Mackenzie was a 17th-century Lord Advocate who is entombed in his own mausoleum in Greyfriars Kirkyard next to the Covenanters’ Prison where he imprisoned, tortured and executed those who pledged to defend Scotland’s Presbyterianism.

"Over the years, visitors to the Kirkyard have been scratched, left with bruises and even broken fingers caused by unseen hands, and houses bordering on the cemetery have had unexplained fires break out.

"On the night I went to Greyfairs, there were lots of high jinx and scares but we didn’t actually encounter the man himself!"

Jacqui first started working on the novel three years ago and even took the Koestler Parapsychology course through Edinburgh University to gain insight into the science of the paranormal for the book. She's now working on a sequel.

"I have been writing for many years, on and off, but only seriously in the last 10 years when I discovered I was old enough and had enough life experience to have stories to tell," Jacqui said.

"I was very fortunate to have worked with a wonderful editor, Jonathan Eyers. He challenged me to look at the manuscript with new eyes and new perspectives which happily led to the Book Guild accepting my book for publication."

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